Orsted, the Danish wind farm operator, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to sell its European onshore Renewables business to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners at a price of 1.44 billion euro ($1.7 billion), as part a plan to strengthen its finances.

Orsted has been working to stabilise and raise cash for its business, including by selling $9.4 billion worth of shares last year. This was after President Donald Trump’s crackdown on offshore wind projects in the United States.

Orsted’s Chief Financial Officer Trond W. Westlie stated in a press release that “the divestment from our European Onshore Platform completes the divestment program we have laid out. We’ve now significantly strengthened Orsted’s position financially.”

Orsted is focusing on its offshore wind business, which will be a larger scale in Europe in the coming years.

The Danish company’s European onshore renewables business spans onshore solar energy, battery storage and onshore wind projects in Ireland and Britain, Germany, and Spain.?With 578 megawatts of operational capacity and 248 MW underconstruction, the Danish company’s European renewables business spans onshore.

Orsted’s U.S. Onshore Renewables Operations are not included in the deal that it struck with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. They remain under Orsted control.

SUNRISE WIND

Orsted was allowed to resume construction of its Sunrise Wind project, off the coast of New York. The company has already spent or committed over $7 billion on this project.

Analysts at JPMC said that investors will now focus on the completion of the remaining construction program, particularly in the U.S. due to policy headwinds.

Orsted announced that it had signed deals worth 46 billion Danish crowns (approximately 35 billion crowns) in total, including the sale of a 50 percent stake in British Hornsea 3, an offshore?wind farm, and a 55 percent stake in Changhua 2, an offshore wind farm, in Taiwan. This was more than its original target of 35 billion crowns.

Analysts valued Orsted’s European onshore business around 1.5 billion euro. At 1046 GMT, shares in the Danish firm were down by 0.94% to 142.2 Danish crowns.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is a fund that focuses on investments in energy infrastructure, such as solar photovoltaics, onshore, offshore wind, and energy storage. It has raised 35 billion euros across 13 funds.

BNP Paribas, Kromann Reumert and Orsted were the advisors. $1 = 0.8465 Euros (Reporting and writing by Terje Jacobsen and Stine Solsvik; editing and proofreading by Andrew Heavens, Alexander Smith and Alexander Smith).

(source: Reuters)